Baby Steps
by J. Maria
Summary: Charlie and Buffy have a lot of issues to cover before they can move on. Part of the More Than Tea series
1. I Wish

Title: Baby Steps

Part Title: I Wish

Series: More Than Tea

Author: Jmaria

Rating: Pg-13

Spoilers: Some for my story Chamomile, so basically 5 (6ish) by 5 (set in books 6 &7) by 2 (3ish) . . . confused?

Disclaimers: Puppet master here, claiming no ownership on the parts of the HP or BtVS people. I do, however, very muchly own Chamomile and Edgar.

Summary: Buffy and Charlie, at the end of all the choas-y ness of trying to rescue Cammi, get a brief moment to talk about their relationship.

A/N: Ok, this is because I kinda cut Charlie/Buffy out in the end of Chamomile. I wrote those last three chapters in the span of five hours, and wanted to get over to the computer lab before they closed to get it out. This fic is set between the battle and the wedding (the one in Chamomile's epilogue) Now this is major fluff, and I don't expect you to consider it anything other than that.

I also seem to be following a theme here (Friday, I'm In Love! was a song title, all of the chapters in Chamomile had songs as the part titles, and this in it's four parted glory, has songs for it's titles. Obscure ranting done now, on with the ficcage.

**__**

Baby Steps

I Wish 

Buffy Summers didn't get much sleep that night. Okay, she didn't get any. All she cared about was that her daughter and her sister were safe and sound, and not being the unwilling sacrifices for an evil wizard who wanted nothing more than to kill most of the world's population in order to prove a moronic point.

Once Madame Pomfrey had checked little Chamomile Weasley-Summers over, she'd been handed not to the mother, but to the only one they really knew. Cammi's father. Charlie.

Their entire relationship span had lasted all of seven days. In those seven days, neither participant had ever given the other the slightest hint that they were more than just a normal man and woman. In reality, she'd been the Slayer and he'd been a Dragon Taming Wizard. Charlie Weasley had swept out of Buffy Summers' life as nearly as fast as he'd swept into it. Buffy convinced herself that it had all been just a silly little fling, until she realized two months later that it wasn't her ex-military boyfriend Riley's child that she was carrying. The fact that it might have been Riley's child honestly never even entered into her mind. She knew that it was Charlie's child she'd carried.

For a long time, Buffy thought Charlie would never even meet his daughter. But then, when the hell god Glory had attacked her family, went after her daughter and her sister, Buffy had gone to great lengths to unearth the scrap of weird paper that Charlie'd given her more than a year ago. When Dawn had been taken, when Giles had told her how unlikely it was that she would survive, that Buffy might have to kill her sister to save the world, the wheels in her mind started to shift. Somehow she knew that there was a chance that not everyone would survive the battle. It wasn't until she was up on that tower built by crazy people that she definitely knew it would be her that wouldn't survive. Granted the odds were kinda swayed in her favor.

Now, one death, resurrection spell, and major battle later, she was standing in a Wizarding Hospital, shivering from her rain drenched clothes watching on as the man who'd _really_ changed her life held her daughter. He held her for only a minute. Then he turned to her and handed her over. Unshed tears shone in his eyes as he gave her a small, tight smile.

"She's -" He couldn't get anything else out. His voice was raw. "I should check on Ginny." He turned to leave.

Buffy cradled her little girl in her arms, tears starting to run over her cheeks. Then something amazing happened. Cammi blinked her eyes open, staring deeply into her mother's hazel eyes.

"Mama?" The infant cooed.

Charlie turned back to stare at Buffy dumbstruck. He stared at the little strawberry blonde baby curling herself around the one woman she'd desperately wanted to hold onto in her darkest hours as she spoke her first word. It wasn't Papa, or Dada as he'd been trying to get her to say. It was 'Mama'. He composed himself as best he could. Buffy stared at him, a little uncertain herself.

"Her first word." He said simply.

Charlie never did end up leaving the room. Cammi burst into tears the second he tried to leave. The head mediwitch finally led them to a private room so she could get some rest and where her stressed and exhausted parents could as well.

"Charlie, I think you can put her down now." Buffy said softly. He'd been pacing around the room for nearly an hour now. Charlie just nodded as he set the baby in the middle of the bed. "I can't believe how big she's gotten. It's almost surreal." She murmured, rocking back on her heels to watch her daughter sleep peacefully.

"Babies do that you know." Charlie replied. "Grow, I mean."

"I almost missed it - I almost missed her growing up." Buffy sighed, willing Charlie to meet her eyes so she could explain it all. "I couldn't let Dawnie die. I just couldn't, just like I couldn't let the world end. No matter how many times I try to explain it, it never seems to get any clearer, you know?"

"Yeah. I mean, I get it." Charlie turned to face her. "I get why you felt you had to do what you had to do. I get why you couldn't tell me, and I get why you couldn't let Dawnie die. She's a hell of a girl, Buffy. I get everything you did, while I may not agree with your reasons, I understand why you did it."

"Charlie, she always came first. Her and Dawnie - they're all I have left. I've lost far too much and it seems so hard to do anything, to feel anything save the things I have to do for them." Buffy's voice faltered when he looked her straight in the eyes.

"Dawn's been accepted to Hogwarts, she really shouldn't drop out." Charlie said, looking away for the first time. "She's got a talent. She's a very special girl."

"Yeah, she's digging the whole wand aspect of it." Buffy said tightly. "Maybe Dawn can commute, or transfer to the American branch."

"She could always stay here, with my family. Mum would never turn her, or you away." Charlie said softly, digging more painfully into Buffy's heart.

"I can't stay here, Charlie. You say you understand? Well, then you understand that I have an obligation to protect the world, and to make sure no one ever tries to open the Hellmouth again." Buffy cried, angry that he was making her say these words. "I can't give it up, because there is no one who can fill in for me. I'm all there is."

"Right then. I'll just swipe my memory to forget that I have a daughter. Then you'll whisk her off to the bloody Hellmouth, where she'll most likely be kidnapped by whoever the new 'big bad' is." Charlie said angrily.

"Because she was oh so safe from the forces of darkness while she was here with you?" Buffy retorted. "No, but let me give up everything to cater to what you want, Charlie. Let me give up what I've been building for five years for a man I knew a total of seven days."

"You didn't have a problem with shagging me." Charlie snapped. "And as for you giving up on your fantastic life? Guess what Buffy, you already did that. You died."

Charlie couldn't stay there anymore. He couldn't fight her, and say all the things he'd said over and over again to her because she wasn't even listening anymore. He yanked the door of the room open and stormed out. Buffy felt herself crack, as she sobbed silently. She lowered herself into the chair beside the bed

"I wish it could be different. I wish we were different. I wish we really loved each other." Buffy sobbed. "But most of all I wish you still loved me. God knows, I still do."

A/N: Ok, angst-ier than I had hoped. But there it is. Hopefully it won't be as angsty in the next part.


	2. Where Did I Go Right?

Title: Baby Steps

Part Title: Where Did I Go Right?

Series: More Than Tea

Author: Jmaria

Rating: Pg-13

Spoilers: Some for my story Chamomile, so basically 5 (6ish) by 5 (set in books 6 7) by 2 (3ish) . . . confused?

Disclaimers: Puppet master here, claiming no ownership on the parts of the HP or BtVS people. I do, however, very muchly own Chamomile and Edgar.

Summary: Buffy does some listening.

A/N: Title is from the song by Hilary Duff. Yes, I listen to her music. No, I am not cracked. Well, not much anyway.

__

Where Did I Go Right?

Buffy rubbed a hand along Cammi's back, listening to the steady beat of her daughter's heart. She'd picked up Cammi, laying her daughter on her chest so that Cammi could hear her mother's heart as well. Buffy's crying had woken her, and the slayer had put on a happy face to reassure her daughter that everything was okay.

As much as her actions were for Cammi's benefit, they were more of a comfort to Buffy. Cammi soothed her mother in a way that no one else could. Cammi sighed in her sleep, burrowing closer to her mother's warmth. Buffy lost herself in the moment. It was the most peace she'd felt since being brought back to life. She closed her eyes and let herself feel something other than pain and sorrow. That was how Dawn found them.

"Is she up?" Dawn whispered.

"No, she's sleeping." Buffy opened one eye. "Why aren't you resting like the mediwitches told you to?"

"Couldn't sleep. Ginny said that Tonks was still -" She choked up, tears coming to her eyes. "She said Tonks was still - that they haven't been able to wake her yet. Percy's still in there with her. He won't leave her side."

"Really?" Buffy said nonchalantly.

Dawn felt anger bubble within her. Buffy had closed her eyes again, trying to regain that feeling of peace. Dawn gritted her teeth. She looked around the room.

"Where's Charlie?" She said stiffly.

"I don't know."

"He was in here with you, how can you not know where he is?" Dawn snapped.

"Dawn -"

"Buffy, I don't know what happened between you two in the past - well, except for the groiny part that made Cammi-"

"Dawnie!"

"Oh please, like I still believe babies come from cabbage patches." Dawn rolled her eyes. "Like I was saying, Charlie is a good guy, Buffy. He's been a better father than Dad ever was to us. He's like - he's like Giles. Only not a stevedore, or he might be. I'm not totally sure I know what that means. But he's a good father. Did you know he sings to her when she can't sleep? Or that -"

"Dawnie, I never said he wasn't a good father." Buffy sighed. "I don't doubt that for a second." Buffy opened her eyes again. "He wants me to stay here."

"And that would be the worst thing to happen?" Dawn was confused.

"Dawn, we have to go back to Sunnydale." It was better to get it all out in the open.

"Why?"

"I'm the slayer -"

"I'm so sick of that being your answer to everything!" Dawn cried. "I've been here for nearly five months. Cammi barely remembers Sunnydale, I'm going to Hogwarts - what about the family?"

"Dawnie, they aren't your real family." Buffy sighed. "Cammi and I are. And the gang."

"For what, a whole year?" Dawn said bitterly. "And now the Weasleys don't matter? It doesn't matter that I want to stay? You've been making all these huge life altering decisions about what's best for me. You sent me here, Buffy. You sent us here because you knew you weren't going to make it. You never told Charlie about us or that you were the slayer."

"No, I didn't, but -"

"And the Weasleys aren't family? That's total crap! They took us in and treated us like we'd been there our whole lives. They are as much our family as the Scoobies are."

"Dawnie, I have to go back to Sunnydale."

"And that means we have to go too?"

"Dawn don't do this. You weren't any safer here than you were in Sunnydale. Cammi got kidnapped by the bad guys."

"She's related to a slayer, I'm sure she'll get used to it."

"That's not fair, Dawn." Buffy replied, hurt tingeing her voice.

"Oh, and this is? At least Charlie's taught me how take care of myself. You've -"

"Dawn, dear are you -" Molly paused in the doorway. "There you are. The mediwitches said you need more bed rest. Maybe you should go lie down."

"Yeah." Dawn said tiredly. She was mad at Buffy, but she didn't have the energy to yell anymore.

"Get some rest, dear. A certain young man was getting quite worried about you."

Dawn blushed brightly, knowing just who Molly was talking about. Molly gave her a quick hug. Dawn smiled sadly up at her. Buffy felt a stab of betrayal as she watched them. It was silly, but it felt like everyone was against her.

"How are you doing, dear?" Molly asked, making her way over to Buffy.

"Well, besides the fight with Charlie and the one with Dawn? I'm surviving."

"It's hard on them." Molly said knowingly. "Dawn's gone through a lot of changes since you - passed."

"And I get that."

"Your mother's passing wasn't easy on her. Not to say that it was easy on you, Merlin knows." Molly sat down. "The battle wasn't easy either. She's upset about Tonks."

"She mentioned Tonks."

"Dawn became quite close to her. Tonks and Percy tutored her." Molly thought worriedly about the young women who'd helped bring her son back into the family fold.

"What boy?"

"Pardon?" Molly was snapped out of her thoughts.  
"You mentioned a boy? A boy who likes Dawnie."

"Oh yes, Connor. The boy who came with you?"

"Connor, Angel's son Connor?" Buffy stammered. "No. No, she _cannot_ like Connor."

"He seemed like a nice boy."

"I'm sure he might be, but they cannot be attracted to each other. He's Angel's son. My Angel -" Buffy broke off. It was never good to mention your ex to your baby's grandmother.

"Because Angel was the first boy you loved?" Molly smiled knowingly. "Dawn had mentioned that you two had - now what did she call it? Oh yes, a 'star-crossed, Romeo and Juliet tragic love' but with more crying and heartbreak and without the double suicide."

"It's not just that." Buffy sighed. "Ok, it is kinda just that, but he's been in a hell dimension for sixteen years. That is never a good sign."

"Dawn told us quite a few things, when she wasn't off trailing the twins or learning how to fly on a broomstick or her magic. She's an amazing young woman, you should be proud of all she's accomplished. I know your mother would be." Molly smiled.

"Yeah, I think you're right." Buffy said sadly.

"It's not my place to interfere, Buffy. I will say that Charlie loves those girls."

"I know he loves Cammi -"

"It's not just Cammi. He loves Dawn just as much. She was so afraid that he would send her back with Angel." Molly pushed herself out of the chair. "Well, I better go make sure Percy gets some food in his system. Maybe you should get some rest as well, dear."

Buffy watched her leave. She placed Cammi back down on the bed. Dawn hadn't wanted her to step in and play Mom to her when Joyce had died, but she readily accepted Molly as a surrogate. Dawn was a ball of contradictions. Charlie didn't want her as a partner because she had lied to him. Her friends felt guilty for bringing her back. Cammi was just happy to be near her mother.

What bothered her the most is that she really didn't want to leave. As much as she loved her friends, Dawn was right. Being with the Weasleys was like being back home, before Buffy had found out she was the slayer. She didn't know how much she missed that until it was thrown back in her face.

Tears trickled down her cheeks as she cried into her hands. There was no way she could make it all better again. She couldn't fix this. She felt something furry rub her leg. Buffy sniffled as she looked down to the much abused Edgar.

The mongoose tilted his head at her and blinked twice. She gave him a half-hearted smile. Dawn's pet had been a great help in the last battle. She owed the little weasel.

__

I am not a weasel. Edgar's voice came through her head.

"You're not supposed to be able to do that, are you?" She asked.

__

I do as I chose to. It's a Summers' thing. The mongoose retorted.

"You haven't been a Summers' that long." Buffy raised an eyebrow.

__

That hasn't stopped your sister or your daughter. Edgar limped over to the bed where Cammi slept. _She should remain here, Dawn as well._

"Ya know, everyone has been telling me what I should and shouldn't do. I'm her mother, not you or anyone else."

__

You didn't let me finish. Another Summers' trait, I'm afraid. Edgar paused, looking back at her. _You should too. It's no longer a place of nightly battles as the Hellmouth is. It's now a place of healing._

"Gee, your mongoose wit and knowledge astound me." She said bitterly.

__

It should. Edgar made his way back over to the door. _There is another who is ready to become the vital strand of Sunnydale. She's repented long enough. You can rest now, slayer. Isn't that what you died for? To find a place to rest?_

Buffy watched as the creature left, his yellow fur a streak of color in the colorless halls. She rose from her chair, her mind racing. Had that been what she had wanted? Rest? Cammi stirred and Buffy found herself curling beside the infant. It wasn't long until both were sound asleep.

That was how Charlie found them. In sleep, they looked so much alike and so very delicate. He knew that wasn't so, for all of the women in his life had been made of stronger stuff. Charlie pulled the blanket over mother and child. Then he sat back down in the chair beside the bed, keeping an eye on them.


	3. Light in Your Eyes

Title: Baby Steps  
Part Title: Light in Your Eyes  
Series: More Than Tea  
Author: Jmaria  
Rating: FR 13  
Spoilers: Some for my story Chamomile, so basically 5 (6ish) by 5 (set in au books 6 &7) by 2 (3ish) . . . confused?  
Disclaimers: Puppet master here, claiming no ownership on the parts of the HP or BtVS people. I do, however, very muchly own Chamomile and Edgar.  
Summary: Finding everyday miracles. . .  
A/N: This, along with a lot of my older fics were some of the victims of the PC crash of 07. I just happened to stumble across it last week, when I was rearranging stuff on my twenty-some flash drives (after my laptop _very nearly_ crashed not a month ago.)

__

Light In Your Eyes

Cammi blinked her tiny eyes open. In front of her was her mother, a face she had nearly forgotten had ever been a part of her life. Her only true clear memory of her mother had been of her smiling and kissing her, tears in her eyes as she put her in the arms of Uncle Droopy Skin.

She reached out, her tiny hand touching the dark gold hair that she remembered being brighter. It was different than Aunt Dawn's, lighter. And not as bright as Dada's. Cammi went to touch her mother's face when she felt strong hands wrap around her, pulling her back.

"Let your mummy rest, you little troublemaker," Charlie kissed the top of her head gently. "You've had us all worried, Cammi, your mum most of all."

"Charlie?" Buffy murmured. "Is she -"

"Fine, just tired of sleeping. I've got her, you can sleep a bit more."

Cammi looked between her parents, their words not making much sense to her, but there was something they weren't saying. Their mouths were tight, and she'd seen that enough on Gran and Grandpa's faces to know what that meant.

"No, I'm - I'm not really tired."

"Buffy, I've got everything handled here. You can rest for a bit longer."

"No, I can't. I- Ive got a lot to do. I've got to get back, get Dawn re-enrolled in Sunnydale, pay my bills and get a job," Mama looked sad as she spoke, and Dada looked like he'd gotten crisped again by the big flying snakes Edgar hated. Cammi sniffled, a tiny ruse she'd learned well how to manipulate early in her young life. She had them both and she didn't want to lose them.

"What exactly about going back there is so damned important? Is it that vital that you go and get yourself killed _again_, without any hope of coming back?"

"It wasn't - I wasn't supposed to come back from that, Charlie. But I am and I've got a job -"

"A job that you threw off twice before, by Dawn's reckoning."

"Well, my little sister has a big mouth and no clue what its like to have this kind of responsibility, Charlie," she sighed. "I really don't want to fight about this. I just got them back."

After another hour of terse one word sentences between them, Giles finally appeared in the doorway. They hadn't had much time to speak since the resurrection and race to find Cammi and Dawn. Charlie seemed to sense their need to reconnect and quickly excused himself, citing a need to see if Tonks had woken yet. Buffy gave her watcher a watery smile as she watched Charlie leave.

"He seems to be quite devoted to the girls," Giles said softly, his hand stroking over Cammi's head.

"Not you too, Giles," Buffy groaned.

"Dawn cornered me, I'm afraid," Giles smiled at his former slayer.

"Because she thinks I'm ruining her life by taking her home," she shook her head, unbelieving at her sister's underhandedness. "I'm her family, Cammi's my daughter. When did that stop mattering?"

"The moment you died."

Buffy reeled a bit at the harsh tone in Giles's voice. He was supposed to be on her side. She must have said that out loud, because his eyes softened instantly.

"I'm not on anyone's side, Buffy," Giles sighed. "This isn't about sides, you know. You've been give a third chance, Buffy. A chance to live in a world where you don't have to hunt down evil creatures and can raise your daughter and sister in peace."

"Peace? I'm in a magic hospital praying my daughter and sister won't have any permanent damage because of evil wizards! And the only reason they were here in the first place is because _I _died! How is any of that normal?" Buffy fought the tears, as the pressure mounted on her. "I got ripped out of Heaven, Giles. Because some part of me _knew_ they were in danger. Because I knew I had to fight, had to be the slayer."

"But you're not. You _died_ Buffy."

Giles sat down beside her on the bed, wrapping an arm around her as she let herself crumble and be a scared girl again. He had already ripped into Willow, Tara, Xander and Anya. It wasn't their place to play God, and Willow was already on a very slippery slope as it was. But his girl - his _girls_, the daughters of his heart were back in his life. It had stung, a bit after her death, that she had not trusted him to take care of the youngest Summers girls, but he had understood. Charlie, or rather the person she'd thought Charlie to be, had been her closest hope for normal for her family.

Giles had told her she'd have to kill her sister, _had_ killed Ben to prevent Glory from using Dawn. He belonged to the Council once more, and was likely the only one who could persuade the new Slayer to take up her rightful place. He'd already begun taking those steps when Tara had called to confess what they'd done to Buffy.

"I'm the slayer, Giles. I can't just _abandon_ Sunnydale," she whispered brokenly, and he knew in that instant that if she hadn't been destined to do her duty, she wouldn't ever even consider coming back to Sunnydale and all of the pain it represented. She'd like nothing more than to be the girl who'd been in love with the boy, live in that huge family and be carefree.

"You're not."

"Huh?"

"You're no longer the Sunnydale slayer," Giles murmured quietly.

"You're not making sense," her eyes widened in fear. "Another - girl was called?"

"Well, yes. Her name is Vi, but she's not going into action until her eighteenth birthday. I've made certain of that," Giles said angrily.

"Then who -"

"The Council has decided its time for Faith to resume her duty as the slayer," Giles took a fortifying breath. "And I'm to be her Watcher."

"What?"

Buffy was off the bed in minutes, angry at this new revelation. Cammi made a noise, and soon Giles was picking up her daughter and walking over to the very tense slayer.

"It's beyond time we gave her a real chance to become a true slayer, Buffy."

"Being a _true_ slayer means dying young and passing to buck off to another poor sucker - like this Vi kid." That seemed to deflate her, memories of how young she and Kendra had been when they were called. How young _Faith _had really been. Though the girl had tried desperately to act older and more worldly than Buffy and her friends, she'd been two years _younger_. "Shes younger than Dawn, isn't she?"

"Vi is about six months younger. And she knows she's not the only slayer. She knows there are two sisters waiting to welcome her into her new world."

"We're not sisters, Giles. We're enemies," Buffy shook her head, but her anger at Faith for trying to take her life had waned a little since the whole body-swap.

"You're two sides of the same coin," Giles shook his head.

"What about me? What do I do, Giles?" she whispered brokenly. "I can't go home, and I can't be your slayer. What am I?"

"You are a mother and a sister. This - this chance - its a gift, Buffy. A third chance."

"You're _benching_ me?"

"Never," Giles smiled, rocking Cammi in his arms. "I'm asking a huge favor of you. Give me a chance to bring Faith around to where she needs to be - a slayer in her own right without a shadow to fight with or a new little sister to train."

"This Vi girl?" Buffy frowned at him, not sure what he was asking of her.

"Yes. I've seen the watchers that could be hers and I don't trust them. Hell, you've _met _them. Utter twits that they are, without Travers there to rule with an iron fist, I've got more sway with the Council than any of them."

"Travers? What happened to that bastard?"

"He fell out of power when all three of his slayers stood up to him. Vi hid from him and broke his hand when he tried to train her himself, Faith twisted the bars of her cell when he tried to forcibly take possession of her, and you actually made demands and in front of witnesses he couldn't really control," a satisfied smile crossed his lips. "You were the reason I knew I had to come back to England to protect Faith and any new slayer that might have been called when you'd died the second time. Faith needs me more than you do, you know. She's never had anyone, and we all did her a terrible disservice. Vi has no one. The Council took her from her parents when she was young. Like they did with Kendra. She needs a guiding hand, and I can think of none better than you."

Buffy thought of all of the possibilities that had opened up in front of her. A new sister to help shape, a current sister to finish raising to make her mom proud, and her daughter she'd just gotten back. And then there was Charlie. With the pressure of being the _only one_ to save the world off her shoulders and four years removed from her anger at mini-me's that were polar opposites of each other leaving her somewhere in the middle, she could have a shot at making things work. But she had no money, and this was a totally foreign world.

"Buffy?" Giles asked questioningly.

"I guess I have a few people I've got to run this all by first."

* * *

Charlie sat patiently outside of Tonks room, not wanting to disturb his younger brother. He knew the hell Percy was going through too well. Tonks was far from the dead Buffy'd been, but the thought of losing out on a second chance with her still stabbed at him.

"Hey," a tiny voice said nervously from the chairs beside him.

Charlie glanced over at the teenaged girl with a knit cap on her head. She looked younger than Ginny, Luna and Dawn and just as lost as Dawn had the first time he'd met her. Short red hair stuck out beneath the purple cap on her head. She could have passed for a Weasley, and he fought the grin at that thought.

"Hey yourself," Charlie greeted the teen.

"Come here often?" the girl winced at the way it came out. "I - I so didn't mean to hit on you. Not - not that I was, you know. It's just I don't know anybody and you looked like you could use a talking-to person."

"You're American?" Charlie asked, noticing how her eyes flicked back to the door hed come from and where his daughter and his - well, Buffy, were still.

"Kind of. I was raised there, for the most part and then, bam, six years ago, they brought me here. Guess I know why now," she shrugged, then her eyes got wide as she realized she hadn't been meaning to talk about herself.

"I'm Charlie. Charlie Weasley."

"Vi."

"No last name?"

Vi shrugged, looking wistfully back at Buffy's door. She shook her head, avoiding his eyes when she spoke next.

"I'm nobody. No family. Not -"

He didn't know if she meant to say yet or really, but from the hopeful tone in her voice, he suspected she'd mean to say yet. Just then, the door she'd been watching and he'd been trying not to watch opened, revealing Buffy in a white top and her dark jeans. Mr. Giles stood just behind her, holding Cammi like a devoted grandfather.

Which, given everything Dawn had told him over the months he'd had her and Cammi in his custody, made perfect sense. Buffy seemed shocked to see him sitting beside the young girl. But she played it off brilliantly as she turned all her attention to the young girl beside him.

"You must be Vi, I'm Buffy Summers," Buffy stretched her hand out to the girl.

"Wow. I mean, yeah, Vi is me," she stammered, wiping her hands on her jeans nervously and tugging on the hem of her long sleeved t-shirt. "Mr. Giles told me about you, and the Council - well, _everyone_ knows who you are, even lowly potentials like me."

"But you're not a potential anymore, are you, Vi?" Buffy said sadly. "Because of me, you're a slayer."

And it slammed into his chest then, why she'd been so adamant about it being her fight to be slayer. Because she'd been as old as this shy, stammering girl when she'd been called as the slayer. Because she'd already gone through this _twice_. She'd already seen a girl like her die because of this gift. She'd already seen one go a bit mad under the pressure and it was because she'd been called and had died in the line of duty. So wrapped up in his thoughts as he was, he barely managed to hear what Buffy had said when she'd pulled the younger girl into a fierce hug.

"And I'm going to make sure you live a damn long time, Vi."


End file.
